Football, Relationships, and Jeff
by virginiagirl101
Summary: AU of "Football, Feminism, and You" where Jeff and Annie are dating, and Jeff's decision to push Troy into football has everything with him thinking it's a better fit for him than academia (and nothing whatsoever to do with jealousy, okay?) For a Ficcy Friday prompt on Milady Milord.


**AN: I saw this prompt and I had to do it. Don't worry, I'll be writing my next chapter of Study in Alternative Relationships soon! I know some details—like the timing of Annie's breakdown and Jeff's expulsion might be different, but for this fic the timeline is this: Annie has her breakdown in late Fall/Novemberish and checks herself into Rehab by early December. She stays in Rehab for 3 months before moving in above Dildopolis in late March/early April—I have no clue how long Rehab usually lasts. Jeff gets disbarred in early April, they run into each other a few times before they both apply to Greendale in May.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Summary: AU of "Football, Feminism, and You" where Jeff and Annie are dating, and Jeff's decision to push Troy into football has everything with him thinking it's a better fit for him than academia (and nothing whatsoever to do with jealousy, okay?) For a Ficcy Friday prompt on Milady Milord.**

_Football, Relationships, and Jeff_

Jeff is not jealous of Troy. He maintains that and will maintain that for the rest of his life. So what if Annie is spending her mornings, lunchtimes, and some evenings tutoring him? It doesn't matter. He doesn't need to see her every second of the day. And he certainly isn't pushing for Troy to join football because of _Annie_—he's trying to do it because of the dumb posters the Dean has of him. And also, Troy _likes_ football, which is more than can be said about his feelings towards studying. Really, he's doing it for Troy, who will never be a genius but who could get a decent football scholarship. It has nothing to do with Annie, so he doesn't get why she's currently getting up in his face before storming away in tears. And he doesn't feel guilty. At all. (Okay maybe he does a little).

Jeff and Annie meet like this—it is fall, November to be Precise. Jeff walks into his office to find a young Brunette that looks kind of familiar sitting there. She's picking at her fingernails, looking around nervously, and she only tenses even more when he sees her, before visibly stiffening and arching her back.

"Excuse me, kid, but I think you're lost," he tells her, because he does not have time to deal with teenage girls who are randomly in his office, and he has an appointment.

"Are you Mr. Winger, Attorney at Law?" she asks him primly.

"Yes," he says suspiciously.

She nods firmly. "I'd like to make use of your services."

He sighs. "Look kid, I have an appointment."

"I am that appointment," she interrupts him quickly.

He stares. "You're Ms. Annie Edison?"

She nods. "Yes."

"You're my client?"

"Yes."

"Sorry kid, but I don't think you can afford me." And he starts to walk back to his desk.

"Wait!" she calls after him. "My father left me money when he left. I can pay, I swear."

He sighs. "What do you want me to do?"

She shifts uncomfortably. "How can I go about being emancipated?"

He stops and looks at her. "Look kid, I don't practice that kind of law . . ."

She interrupts him. "No, you look. I had a breakdown in front of half the school because of my Adderall addiction, and my mom won't put me in Rehab. I need to be emancipated to do so."

"Nice sob story, but I still don't do this kind of stuff."

She looks at him dead in the eye. "Would it help if I told you my mother is a client of Alan Connor?"

He stops. Winning one over Alan would look good for making partner, and there is a slight possibility this could go to court. He sighs. "Fine. Tell me everything."

She nods, looking down. "It all started when my Dad left . . ."

Three weeks later, he had helped her become Emancipated and checked her into Rehab, planning on never seeing her again.

When Jeff first sees the poster with his face on it, he panics. Because, yes, he is here to get his degree and go back to being a lawyer, but he'd really appreciate it if nobody from the lawyer world found out he was here. And then the dean tells him that he'll get rid of the posters/flyers if Troy joins the football team. Which leaves Jeff in a dilemma—does he do what's best for him, or does he do what Annie would want him to do (because Annie insists that football is "bad" for Troy, that he needs to focus on his studies, and that if Jeff cared at all he would see that. Jeff thinks that football would probably give Troy more options than education, because he is not an idiot, and it is obvious that Troy just doesn't have the personality to sit for hours and study, because he is not Annie.)

Jeff doesn't see Annie again until April, when he is driving back from drinking in a really bad part of town after having been disbarred (he doesn't want to think about it okay? And he especially doesn't want to have to deal with his so called 'friends' at work mocking him behind his back, he just wants this all to disappear). He blames his being less than sober on him stopping and pulling up to the curb, getting out of the car, and leaning up against it as she walks up to him.

"Long time no see," he smirks at her.

She stops in shock, stiffening and staring at him. "Mr. Winger?"

His smirk widens. "I helped you get emancipated, the least you can do is call me Jeff."

She rolls her eyes. "Well sorry for being shocked to see someone I thought I'd freed myself from."

He gasps and clutches his chest dramatically. "You wound me, Milady."

She narrows her eyes at him suspiciously "Are you . . . drunk?"

He snorts. "Me drunk? Why would you ask that? I'll have you know I can handle my drinks, madam."

She nods. "I'm sure you can."

Somehow he finds himself waking up the next day in her crappy apartment.

Troy and Annie are in intense studying mode, again, when Jeff comes up and interrupts it. After some long, hard thought, Jeff has come to a few decisions: 1) there is no way that anybody in the law world can find out about his currently attending Greendale. 2) Joining the football team might be best for Troy—he obviously enjoyed the game, he obviously had a future in it, and he obviously isn't suited to just education like some people are, and 3) Annie is smart, but she's also manipulative and selfish, and she's obviously against football because she doesn't want to lose Troy as a friend. Yeah. So Jeff comes up, and tries to convince Troy to join the football team. And it works, so his work here is done. Troy is happy, he's doing what's best for him, and his future as a lawyer (and his relationship with Annie) is safe.

After Jeff wakes up at Annie's apartment, freaks out about how crappy it is, and is convinced to share why he was out drinking, he and Annie see each other twice more by the middle of May. It's not in a creepy way, it's not like he's stalking her or purposely trying to see her, he just doesn't want to run into anybody from his old life, so he's avoiding the usual upscale places he shops. And maybe he actually likes her, and he has no friends left from his previous life, and she understands what it's like to have your whole world fall apart (even though she did lecture him on the importance of education, and how he had it coming for not valuing it, but whatever. Like he cares.) In the middle of May, they run into each other at the gas station by her house, and she brings up Greendale Community College, and how she's applying there to get a head start on life, and how he should consider it.

For the record, he waits a whole week before sending in the application.

After Jeff convinces Troy to join the team, he is kind of tense, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Because Jeff knows Annie, pretty well (better than anybody else, even the study group and her dumb ex-boyfriend, thank you very much), and he knows that she is very, very against the idea of Troy joining the football team, because she doesn't see the value of sports, and "football is not going to do him anything for his future, Jeff, he needs to concentrate on his studies and everyone knows I'm the best person to help him with this" (and maybe he's interrogated her about their relationship one too many times). All that is to say that when Annie pops out of the bushes at him, he is not surprised. (Well maybe he's surprised about the bushes thing, but he's been expecting the confrontation all day).

But then she attacks him, calling him the "most selfish person alive". And he's growing, but he's not great yet, okay? So he really can't be blamed for retaliating back. And all his frustration comes out—his frustration with her closeness/falling over backwards with Troy, his frustration with her insistence that academia is the most important thing in the world, his frustration over being at Greendale, and he accuses her of being "hopelessly in love with him" and "just as selfish as I am, you're just not good at it yet".

She has a pithy reply, to which he responds, and then she's storming away, and, okay, he can admit it—he feels like crap.

After Jeff applies to Greendale, he realizes that maybe he should get to know Annie better, so that he has at least one person he knows there. And as they hang out at his apartment (he refuses to go to hers because it's so crappy and scary and one of his new goals in life is to get her out of there), he realizes that Annie is kind of great. She has the amazing balance of maturity and naivety—she has been through crap, but she still believes the best in people. Especially him. Which is weird, because she saw him as his lawyer self, and he knows she didn't approve, but she still thinks he is better than that. And she makes him want to be better than that. She firmly believes in the best of people, but not in a stupid way. And she's really, really attractive.

So it's not surprising that one day, when he's dropping her off at her apartment (he refuses to let her walk up those stairs alone), he pulls out of the hug and his gaze naturally falls to her lips. And then her face turns really shy, and she leans up and kisses him. It's quick and soft, and it feels amazing. When she pulls back, she has this look that is so unsure on her face, as if she's afraid he's going to run away screaming. So he does the only thing he can do: he leans down, pushes her against the door, and kisses her back.

Jeff spends all day trying to come up with a plan for how to fix things with Annie, because she's upset, and that's not okay. He eventually comes up with the plan to talk Troy out of joining the football team. So he goes, admits to Troy that it's probably not going to be great, and tells him not to do it. But then Troy drops the bomb of how he injured himself on purpose, and how now he can play football without the stress (see, he was right! Football can be good for him!) And then he tells him he should accept where he is and be happy with it. And Jeff realizes that's not a bad idea. But there's something he has to do first.

After they kiss, Jeff and Annie avoid each other for two weeks. But the thing is, he misses her. So he shows up at her apartment, and knocks at the door. She opens it, shocked.

"Jeff? What are you doing here?"

He looks her dead in the eye. "I missed you."

She snorts. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed, with the way you ran out of here."

"Well it's not like you tried to contact me either!"

She sighs. "I know."

Jeff nods. "Can I come in?"

She looks at him in shock. "You never come in."

"Well we need to talk. And I don't want to die in your hallway. Seriously, Annie, I'm far too gorgeous to die here."

She laughs. "Well come on in."

He comes in, leaning against the wall and studying her. "We kissed."

She nods. "I know."

"It was hot," he smirks.

She smirks back. "I know."

"I wouldn't mind doing it again."

She's shocked again. "What?"

He sighs. "Look, you're young and beautiful and naïve, and any good person would find a relationship between us to be wrong."

She nods, looking sad. "I know."

He catches her eyes again. "But I'm not a good person," he can tell she's about to object, so he cuts her off. "I am a nasty, sardonic, awful, broken person, and I could seriously break you. But people have already tried that, and you're still standing. You're the best thing that's happened to me since I got fired. Let's give this a shot."

She nods, and that's that.

They run into each other as she's leaving the pep rally. He apologizes in what even he realizes is a crappy manner. She pushes him, and he makes a better apology, which causes her to soften (he realizes he doesn't deserve her). Then the creepy mascot comes, and causes her to fold herself under his arm, which rests on his shoulders casually (it's the closest they've been in public on Greendale's campus, and it makes him wish their relationship was public, but it isn't).

After the creepy mascot leaves, he invites her into the pep rally. The look on his face makes him wish he could kiss her, but he knows he can't, so he brings out the next best thing. Offering her his elbow, he says "Milady", and he knows that the look on his face is telling her so many things he's not ready to admit to anyone else.

She smiles softly at him, taking his arm with a "Milord", and in her face are the answers he didn't know he was looking for until he met her.

**AN: Okay, this is kind of late, and it got out of hand, and I'm not sure if it's what you wanted. I hope all my readers enjoyed it and please let me know what you think!**


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